An online journal in which members of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar document their noble efforts.

Friday, August 18, 2006

A &^(*!#& Word on Maledicta

This was in a caption in today's Seattle Times:

Rational people can agree on two things: Snakes are evil, and nobody swears more entertainingly than Samuel L. Jackson. If you're asking, "What more do you need in a movie?" then stop reading and get your (!@#$%) to the (!@#$%) theater.

Please note the curse words that have been obscured by various punctuation marks. Note that the punctuation marks are the same for each of those missing words.

OK, now try to figure out which curse word could possibly fit in both spots. This could take some time. We'll give it to you.

Figured it out yet? Of course not. There is no curse word that acts as both a noun and an adjective, at least not one that we know of, and we know quite a few, in both modern and ancient languages, including one that involves crows.

SPOGG sees a need for a standardized dictionary of maledicta: punctuation and other marks that can be substituted for specific dirty words so that readers can tell what they are without having to see them in their filthy printed glory. We will be writing shortly to the Associated Press, which publishes the style manual used by newspapers nationwide.

Feel free to send us your suggestions, both of dirty words, and their doppelgangers (a word that sounds vaguely dirty, but is merely German).